US failed to gain Iran’s trust during talks: Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf

Tehran: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the US failed to gain Iran’s trust during recent negotiations, despite what he described as Tehran’s willingness to engage in “good faith”.

In a series of posts on X, Ghalibaf stated that the Iranian delegation raised “forward-looking initiatives”, however, the US failed to gain its trust. He mentioned that the US has to decide whether it can earn Iran’s trust and logic, as it has understood Tehran’s logic and principles.

“Before the negotiations, I emphasised that we have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side. My colleagues on the Iranian delegation raised forward-looking initiatives, but the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations,” Ghalibaf posted on X.

In another post, he wrote: “America has understood our logic and principles, and now it’s time for it to decide whether it can earn our trust or not?”

His statement comes as high-level talks between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan failed to produce an agreement. The Speaker led the Iranian delegation during the negotiations with the US in Islamabad.

Ghalibaf also hailed the people of Iran for taking to the streets following the advice of the Supreme Leader and expressed gratitude to his colleagues for attending the 21-hour negotiations.

In a post on X, he stated: “We consider every mirror to be another method of authority diplomacy, alongside military struggle, for upholding the rights of the Iranian nation, and we will not for a moment cease our efforts to consolidate the achievements of the forty days of Iran’s national defence.”

“Iran is a body with 90 million souls, from all the heroic people of Iran who, following the advice of the Supreme Leader and by taking to the streets, supported their children and sent us on our way with their blessings—for this, I am grateful, and to my colleagues in these intense 21-hour negotiations, I say: well done, God strengthen you,” he posted on X.

The failed talks mark a setback in efforts to revive diplomatic engagement over Iran’s nuclear programme, which has long been a point of contention between Washington and Tehran. Previous negotiations have stalled over verification measures, sanctions relief and the scope of Iran’s enrichment activities.

Meanwhile, US Vice President J D Vance said negotiations with Iran failed to produce an agreement after more than 20 hours of talks in Islamabad, warning that Tehran’s refusal to accept Washington’s terms was “bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America”.

“We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” Vance told reporters at a press conference in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Vice President said US negotiators had clearly outlined their position, but Tehran declined to accept the terms.

“We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on, and we’ve made that as clear as we possibly could, and they have chosen not to accept our terms,” he said.

Vance emphasised that the core US objective remained preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability.

“The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” he said.

He added that Washington was seeking long-term assurances from Tehran, not temporary commitments.

“Do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term. We haven’t seen that yet. We hope that we will,” Vance said.

He confirmed that Washington has put forward what it considers its final proposal.

IANS